Sushi AOI — Restaurant in Washington

A VERY NICE JAPANESE RESTAURANT I have come to this place twice this year. Once in January for an event and once at the start of August for another event. Priceing for this place is not too bad say $ - $$. I was about 160 for 4 people, but that was with us buying drinks and appetizers. JANUARY Because it was the end of the month and no real events were going on it was easy to walk in and get seated.It was a party of two with myself and my spouse.It was dark outside, but the lighting was nice and we had soup and chicken. It didn't take the servers long to tend to us since we were one of a couple of people there. It was quiet , clean and the food was great. It was nice to have a hot meal on a winter evening. I had already had plans to come back later in the year for the event in August. AUGUST Because of the event taking place I was happy to see that I could make reservations on google so we would not have to wait too long. This time it was a party of four with myself and spouse and two friends. It was very busy so booking ahead of time is a good idea if you know you are going at a busy time. It did feel a little cramp because the table was fairly small four 4 people but we made it work. The servers were nice and still very quick to get our food to us, but once we started eating we did have to make sure to get their attention because it was busy. The food that was hot came out hot and I just love getting salads from these sorts of restaurants. Again the food was good, the table and chairs and untensials were clean and with it being the summer I did love the buzzing busy atmosphere that was in there. I would recommend anyone looking for a Japanese restaurant in this...

Sushi was delicious. Chicken teriyaki same as anywhere else.

Enjoyed the rolls very much washed down with Saporo Beer.

The meal was enjoyed by myself and 2 European friends.

The day turned interesting because my friends decided to pay for lunch. We finished a nice meal and used the nature break room.

My friend walked out first. The waitress asked my friend if service was good. He said "very good." She asked the question many times and he answered many times "good!" He was annoyed after the umpteenth time.

I heard the entire conversation walking out. The waitress then asked me "was the service good?" I agreed and said yes. She asked me the same question again and again.

I asked her "what is problem because you keep repeating yourself?" She showed me the bill. My friend left a $4 dollar tip on $100 lunch bill.

I offered to pay the 15% and she refused. I explained to her that Europeans do not pay tips and this is their first experience in USA at Washington DC. She did not understand and seemed annoyed. I left her extra cash. Would have left more, but was annoyed by passive aggressive questioning. The repeated questions were like being interrogated under lights in smokey room.

Communication is important. Waitresses were annoying passive aggressive. They did a superb job on service.

Overall good experience sitting outdoors dinning with great...

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. How does this place have over 4 stars?

Pop quiz. What does sushi mean? Ding ding it means sour or vinegared rice. What do you think was on my maki roll? Rice. Not the same thing. I ordered a yellowtail and scallion maki roll and a vegetable tempura dinner. This should not be risky. The tempura dinner came with rice and the side by side comparison said they were the same. Without the brightness that comes from sushi rice, a maki roll tastes wrong, sad and for my synesthete friends, muddy greyish brown. I do not recommend.

The vegetable tempura was similarly bad. Buying a $16 plate of fried veggies should get you some veggies. What I got was 1 asparagus sprig, 1 broccoli floret, 1 onion ring, 2 cuts of eggplant, and 4 fat cuts of yam. I understand that at a restaurant you pay for the service and dining experience, but that's like buying a bag of mixed nuts and getting 1 almond in a bag of peanuts. Adding insult to injury, it wasn't even very good. The batter wasn't crispy and soggily fell off of my onion ring as I tried to eat it, and the 3/8 inch thick cuts of yam were too much for the batter to make any impact. Might as well just eat a baked yam.

If that was just an off night, then it was a...